UPDATE: Thoughts of suicide among VI youth alarming-Report
According to the report, 1609 in-school youth between the ages of 12 and 19 years participated in a survey which was part of the Youth Health and Sexuality Study conducted as a joint collaboration by the health authorities of the Virgin Islands and the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO).
An alarming finding related to suicide, according to the study was that 22% of the young people had seriously thought about killing themselves, while 62% of the group who seriously thought about killing themselves indicated that they made a plan about how to kill themselves.
"Out of the group who made a plan to kill themselves 62% actually tried to commit suicide on one or more ocassions. Female respondents (73%) were more likely to have contemplated suicide than male respondents (51%) and also twice more or more times likely to attempt suicide," the report stated.
While the study showed about 61% of the young people perceived that health care providers treat young clients with equal respect and care, only 33% believed that health care providers could keep information confidential and 27% discussed reproductive health issues.
Early sexual experience
The mean reported age for sexual debut among boys was 12.2 years and 13.5 years among girls, according to the report.
"More than one-third (37%) of the young people reported having sexual intercourse. Male respondents were more likely to have sexual intercourse than female respondents, 47% and 28% respectively."
Nine percent of the young persons reported to be attracted to the same sex or to both sexes, the report also disclosed.
See previous article posted July 25, 2014:
Young people engaging in unsafe health practices- Hon. Skelton
ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI- “Young people in the Virgin Islands are engaged in unsafe health practices and are therefore at risk for a number of health problems related to lifestyle choices and behaviour,” Minister for Health and Social Development Hon. Ronnie W. Skelton stated at the tenth sitting of the second session of the second House of Assembly today, Thursday July 25, 2013.
The Health Minister was at the time commenting on the ‘Report on the Youth Health and Sexuality Survey 2012’ which he laid in the House today.
Hon. Skelton said he found the report as a troubling one. “These findings have significant implications for the society at large and should be addressed with urgency by all relevant stakeholders.”
It was said that the Health Ministry embarked on an assessment of secondary school students to better understand their school environment and their self perception. He further said the study was designed to generate strategic information and baseline data in an effort to design and deliver more effective service for young persons in the Virgin Islands.
A total of 1609 students within the age group of 12 and 19 participated in the survey and focused group interviews.
Areas covered, according to Hon. Skelton, included peer relationships, family relationships, sexual and reproductive health, HIV, gender perception, access and utilisation of Health services, substance use, social and mental health, school and work experiences, nutrition, physical health and hygiene.
“Madam Speaker this study revealed that the young people in the Virgin Islands are engaged in unsafe health practices and are therefore at risk for a number of health problems related to lifestyle choices and behaviour,” Hon. Skelton concluded.
He said the findings of the survey are being shared with pastors, policy makers, teachers, legislators, parents and other relevant stakeholders to enable development of the necessary strategies, interventions, policies, legislation, programmes and services to address the cause of adolescent health problems.
It was noted that some 17 specific recommendations have been made towards strengthening the Territory’s capacity to improve awareness and promote healthier lifestyles among the Territory’s adolescents. “This includes promoting healthy lifestyle, sexual reproductive health, developing programmes to strengthen relationships between parents and children and establishing and reinforcing legislation to better protect the health and rights of young people.”
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22 Responses to “UPDATE: Thoughts of suicide among VI youth alarming-Report”
Hmmm ur ignorant @rse. "Some" young people have problems not all. skelton you cannot collectively say all young people.
quit bullying!!!!
We need to look at the homes of these children. There are so many single parents out there and young parents (I'm not picking on these people but just using them as an example) out there. Sometimes they themselves aren't fully matured so when they have children and they're tasked with not only their personal growth but the mental growth of their children as well and it exhausts them. The children see this and the feel an array of emotions, guilt for putting their parents through so much, anger for their parents bring them into the world without being able to properly care for them, fear for the future, fear of failure and a whole load of other things.
A lot of these kids are behaving the way they behave because they are hurting inside and can't say why or they've been taught that it's nothing to cry about, life's hard so suck it up. It's poisoning them from the inside and driving them mad and by time we see the the problem, it's already rooted deeply.